Birth control devices—including barrier methods and vaginal contraceptives—are currently available over the counter. For example, condoms can help prevent transmission of sperm during intercourse.
There are chemical barriers as well. For example, Nonoxynol-9, which is a nonionic detergent with strong surfactant properties, acts by killing or otherwise immobilizing spermatozoa. It is a potent cytotoxic agent which tends to nonspecifically disrupt cell membranes. As a consequence, Nonoxynol-9 can injure vaginal/cervical epithelial and other cells at very low concentrations.
Other spermicides have similar undesirable side-effects. There is a need for a more natural and less disruptive spermicide that has few if any harmful side effects.
The primary means of birth control in the United States is “The Pill”, or oral hormonal contraceptives. Studies report that about 50% of women who begin using oral contraceptives discontinue use within the first six to twelve months due to side effects.
There are labels on Pill packaging warning that the pill substantially increases women's risks to many health problems, some of which are potentially very serious. Oral contraceptives increase a woman's risk of heart attacks, strokes, blood clots, depression, sleep disorders, anemia, low energy, migraine headaches, vaginal yeast infections, diabetes, a weakened immune system, giving birth to an infant with birth defects, and cancers in the uterus, colon and breast.
The hormones used in “the Pill,” are synthetic, structurally altered as compared to naturally occurring hormones. These derivatives actually deplete the body of a large number of nutrients, mostly vitamins, antioxidants and so-called “trace elements,”—minerals that are essential to one's health, but needed only in tiny quantities, or “trace amounts.”